Like Cats and Dogs
by HomingPidgeon
Summary: By the time Fury arrived, she couldn't imagine working with anyone else.
1. Team Spirit

She wasn't the last to arrive-no, she was far too on top of things for that. She was the third. A bit later than she probably would've preferred, but still. Better than last.

She knew that Fury was still working on getting their fifth member. She knew he was considering Spider-man, though she didn't know much about the hero, other than that he was based in New York.

The helicarrier impressed her, and she wasn't too shy to say it. A giant, flying fortress. Who wouldn't get excited about it? And working with other heroes, she could really make a name for herself, doing this. A great opportunity.

It was some grunt that led her to the meeting room-a white table, four chairs on either side, a big screen in the front. Perfect example of any good government based super-secret hero meeting room. Two of her new team-mates (even in her mind, that took a bit of getting used to) were already there-she thought she could recognize them.

Luke Cage, no alias, at least not yet-a black kid, impenetrable skin, immovable ... super strength, up to eleven.  
Danny Rand, Iron Fist-from some far off city (Kan Long? There was a K and an L in it, she knew that much). Fist of ... well, iron.

All three of them in civilian clothes, costumes folded neatly in front of them. Luke offered a broad, happy greeting, waving her over. Danny smiled-friendly, but with something behind it. Not quite open.

She dropped into the seat across from Luke, and offered them both her hand. Unnecessary introductions were passed around, a bit shared about their respective pasts, a few childish challenges about their powers.

Sam Alexander, Nova, was the last to arrive, about a half-hour after her. He was loud, boisterous, as open as a person could be. He sat next to her, and quickly took control of the conversation-dropping somewhere in his flood of words that Fury would be there in a couple hours to give them a briefing.

She hadn't known them long, but she liked them-Luke and Sam traded jabs and jokes like brothers, not even blinking when she managed to one-up the both of them. Danny was quiet, but funny and kind when he did choose to speak. Sam blew up a chair showing off, and she laughed so hard she almost fell out of her seat.

By the time Fury arrived, she couldn't imagine working with anyone else.

**Note**; The first part in a series about the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. They'll center around Iron Fist and White Tiger-some from her view, some from his. Danny and Ava will also be the primary pairing, though there might be some cameos by Phil/May and Peter/MJ. I'll have one update per episode-most should just be a single short, but every now and then I might wanna put in more than one.


	2. Number Five

So Fury finally grabbed number five. Spider-man, real name Peter Parker. Kind of a doof if you asked her-mostly talking, not a whole lot of actual strategy or thought behind his actions. Didn't plan for the consequences, didn't have any apparent training or discipline ... and she said as much.

Nova was still worked up, still figured he was the team leader, and she didn't resist the urge to poke fun at him. Still, she couldn't deny his points-she'd say she didn't want to be on the wrong side of Parker's webs, but there didn't seem to be a right side of them. Swinging his enemies around like that, any one of his team could get knocked unconscious by a wrong throw.

Her beliefs were only solidified after stopping the motorcycle. Introductions were passed around, everybody got to show off a bit-and Parker threw a little fit over having to be on a team. Of course.

At least she won the bet.

-

It was only-what, an hour? Two? Before a few of Parker's villains attacked him, and they had to go save his worthless hide.

Her team's first fight together, now that she thought about it. She'd seen them use their abilities before, naturally, but never against actual, real enemies. Parker and his mindless prattle still went on throughout the battle, but at least his webs were handy. She might be able to picture them working out.

Luke-Power Man, now, thanks for giving him THAT idea-was impressive, naturally. He dealt more damage than she'd expected of him, having a lot less speed than the rest of them. The strength made up for it easily.

Nova was all over the place, just like when he was talking-flying and dashing, he seemed to be everywhere at once.

Still, despite having a relatively small part in their fight, it was Danny who caught her attention, yet again. He didn't do much, one hit to Klaw. But as his fist connected, it nearly exploded with energy-the man was thrown backward, a blast of light. Who wouldn't notice that?

And still, when it was all over, and they were heading back to the helicarrier, he just dropped into his seat and propped up his feet like nothing had happened.

She couldn't take her eyes off him. Sure, they were all powerful, but he nearly blew the roof off of a building, and barely batted an eye! Just went back to listening to his iPod and giving off-hand comments every now and then.

Fury dismissed them, and as they all headed out, she almost tried to catch up to him. Her hand nearly reached out, but she caught it before it was past her hip. Some unknown, unfamiliar feeling was building in her gut and chest, and she wasn't sure she wanted to try to talk through it. She turned the other way, hoping she didn't look too rushed as she went back to her room.

It wasn't until later, when she'd finished off her first batch of math homework, she realized that feeling was attraction.


	3. Alpha Dog

She remembered, when she was a real little kid, two of her classmates who would always get into fights. They'd make up, and were great friends when they weren't fighting, but when they were, it was like World War Three between them. She'd asked her father, and he'd simply said "That's how it works with two Alpha dogs." She'd nodded sagely, even if she didn't quite understand it.

She certainly did NOW. Both Peter and Sam trying to volley for team leader, both of them landing the five of them on a plane to Latveria, both of them dragging a load of Doctor Doom robots into the helicarrier. She could've stabbed them both in the face.

At the end of it, they managed to get along, and it seemed like the five of them were really starting to become a team. They'd won the battle, they'd built their bridges, they'd all taken the heat from Fury together, and once Nova was calmed down, they'd chatted and joked a minute or two, then gone their separate ways.

She'd tossed on the loose shirt she slept in, and was nearly asleep before she heard the knocking. She stood up, mumbling something under her breath, and answered the door sleepily. "Yeah?"

"Hey." His gentle voice woke her up quickly, and her hands instantly went to the hem of her shirt, making sure she'd pulled it down enough.

"Oh, hey Danny. What's up?" He was far more comfortable with the situation than was appropriate, still wearing his casual clothes, minus the sweater usually tied around his waist. "Did you catch the English assignment?"

It took her mind a moment to catch up to his words. "Oh-yeah, here, I got it written down." She headed towards her backpack, dropping into a kneel and digging through the contents. He strolled in casually, looking around the room with a curious glance. She handed him the paper, typed neatly with a few of her own scribbled notes at the bottom and around the margins. He took it absentmindedly, still glancing around, offered a quiet thanks, and was off.

She moved past the incident easily enough (minus a bit of frustration that he hadn't been more grateful after nearly waking up his teammate to get homework he should already have), dropping into her bed and falling asleep.

The next day, after training, he caught her arm on the way back to their rooms, putting something into her hand. "This could really help the energy flow in your room-leads to better rest and fighting skills." She accepted it gratefully, a bit surprised he'd thought of it. He responded to her thanks with nothing but a smile and a little wave, and turned around. Luke waved to her, thumped Danny on the back when he reached him, and they were on their way. She glanced down at the item in her hand-a scented candle, a sharp, mottled green and brown colour, without a label to be seen. She almost laughed-a cheesy gift, definitely, but still one she could appreciate.

She dropped it on her nightstand, and didn't think of it until she was just about to fall asleep. After a moment of consideration, she put a folder beneath it to catch the wax, and lit it. Especially compared to the cold, lifeless light that the SHIELD bulbs gave off, it's orange tinted glow cast a warm, homey air to the room, and the scent it gave off wasn't something she could quite identify, but called her mind back to her home.

She slept better that night than she had since before her father died.

.


End file.
